Page 49 - Retaining Top Employees

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The Secret’s in the Swing 37

Use Performance Management Tools
Do you know the organizational goals that you want every
employee to achieve? Do you and your employees know if
they’re hitting those goals?
If not,employees may feel over time like they haven’t accomplished
enough.This feeling of malaise or even of failure may cause employees
to leave in hopes of feeling more fulfilled somewhere else.
A good performance management process can help improve reten-
tion in two ways:
1. Use job descriptions or annual reviews to state the goals that each
employee is expected to achieve year by year.
2. Use performance appraisal mechanisms to measure the progress of
employees toward those goals.
(We’ll explore the role of performance management in employee
retention in more detail in Chapter 10.)

It’s just the same with employee retention: after your recruit-
ing and pre-hire messaging begins the employer-employee rela-
tionship and your orientation provides initial direction, your fol-
low-through will improve distance (the length of that employer-
employee relationship) and accuracy (the degree to which the
employee will meet overall organizational goals). Both distance
and accuracy are vital. There’s little point in working hard to
retain an employee for a long time if he or she is contributing
little to your organizational objectives!
There are two main elements in a strong follow-through.
One is the employee’s manager or supervisor, by supervising,
directing, and instructing the employee. In this way, the manag-
er ensures accuracy—achieving organizational goals. The other
is the employee’s mentor and/or coach, by supporting, encour-
aging, and advising. The mentor or coach ensures distance—
helping the employee stay, grow, and develop over time.
In Chapters 10 and 11 we will look at employee retention
follow-through—the role of the manager, mentor, and coach—
and we’ll see how managers, mentors, and coaches work
together to produce enduring, productive employee-employer
relationships—relationships with distance and accuracy.